First Time Racing The Annadel XC

[Jim Hewett]

The XC race at Annadel State Park in Santa Rosa is a great single loop race that isn't too far from where I live, but I had never done it before.  I usually try to stretch some fitness into August for The Downieville Classic, but this race is so late in the season that I have passed on it...until today.

I figured I would give it a try, as I had heard the course is good.  Though I had a cold for the week leading up to the race, I was able to pre-ride the course on Friday.  It involves a lot of rocky singletrack, with some rocky fireroad climbs and descents.  The pro class races for 25 miles, which would put me finishing in under 2 hours.

I would be racing my Trek Top Fuel, with a Bontrager XR1 2.2 in the back and a Schwalbe Rocket Ron SS 2.25 in the front.  I threw on a KS Lev 150mm dropper, which would increase the fun factor and hopefully the overall speed on this relatively technical course.'

There were about 12 guys in the pro field, including some that would call Annadel State Park their backyard.  My teammates Phil Mooney and Carson Benjamin were both gunning for a win.  Shane Bresneyan would surely be fast on these trails, while Sam Bassetti would be climbing strong.  NorCal league champ Xander Sugarman, also from Santa Rosa, would surely be fast.

The start was an abrupt climb on pavement to a short technical climb.  I figured there would be some bobbles in the rocks, so I sprinted hard to get into it in good position.  I made it around Bassetti as he dismounted and gassed it to catch Xander Sugarman at the front.  Carson came around me soon, and Bassetti caught and passed me as we made our way over to the rocky Cobblestone downhill.  We passed Carson with a dropped chain, but Bassetti was slowing me down in the rocks enough for Xander to get a decent gap.  Once we hit the pavement, Bassetti gave the roady signal for me to come around him and take the lead, a cowardly move after insisting on leading in the rocky parts that were not his strength.  I did my best to gain time on Xander, and Bassetti came around me again as we re-entered the singletrack. 

Carson, Phil and Shane caught up to me, and we changed positions a couple of times on our way over to Warren Richardson.  Once we hit that fireroad climb, I started to get a feel for how my day would go.  Jason King and Ryan Gorman came by me and I found myself trying to shift into a gear that I just didn't have.  I kept some guys in sight for the next 10 minutes, but I was slowly falling back. 

After the South Burma descent, I caught sight of Shane on Live Oak, but I couldn't overtake him.  This continued for awhile, as I was jamming on the downhill sections but not able to punch it on the climbs.  I hit the pavement at the bottom of Lawndale with a 20 second gap to Shane, but had an uninspired climb over to Schultz and up.

I rode by myself from here to the end, losing time on the climbs.  Strava analysis shows that I was faster than anyone on some of the descents, but I had lost too much time already to make it up without pedaling well.  The rocky trails were more fun without anyone in the way, but I was bummed I was a couple minutes behind the real race.

I finished in 1 hour and 50 minutes for 8th place.

Kind of a mediocre showing.  I guess I can now say the XC race season is over.